Non-Factory Workers are entitled to a 30-minute lunch break between a.m. and. The FLSA dictates that employees must be compensated for all hours of work.This includes any authorized rest periods of 20 minutes or less. Our ESS unit handles an array of employment issues, including, but not limited to, enforcement of laws concerning wages and time off. Although breaks are not required, employers must pay employees for time they spend working and for shorter breaks during the day. Alabama does not have any state laws governing wage and hour issues. Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. First, if the employee is a minor they must be provided with a lunch break of at least 30 minutes after they have completed five hours of work. If an employee works through a time that is typically used for a break, such as a lunch break, they must be compensated for this time. Even if an employer refers to this time as a lunch break, the employee is still working and entitled to be paid.